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Article History

Received: 14 June 2022

Accepted: 16 December 2022

First Online: 10 March 2023

Declarations

:

: According to the Finnish legislation, retrospective register-based studies in which the subjects are not in contact / are not subject to intervention are not considered medical research (Medical Research Act 488/1999) and therefore ethical committee approval is not required. Informed consent was waived because the study utilized register data that can be used in scientific research. According to national legislation (including European Union General Data Protection Regulation 679/2016; Data Protection Act 1050/2018; Act on Electronic Prescriptions 61/2007; Act on the Secondary Use of Health and Social Data 552/2019) retrospectively collected health register data can be used for research with permission from the register owner. This institutional approval was obtained from the register owner Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) (Dnro 96/522/2020) and no other administrative permission were required. All data obtained from the national prescription register was pseudonymized before submission to the authors, and the authors cannot convert the data back into identifiable form. This study was performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations.

: Not applicable.

: Author Paulamäki, Author Jyrkkä and Author Hyttinen declare that they have no conflict of interest. Author Jämsen has received lecture fees (from lectures partly related to the present study) from medical companies (Chiesi, Lundbeck, Novartis, Nutricia, Orion Pharma) and professional organizations (Finnish Medical Society Duodecim, Pihlajalinna Ltd., Finnish Medical Association, Fioca Ltd). Authors Paulamäki, Jyrkkä and Jämsen are also members of the advisory board of the Meds75+ database.